This Week's Rheem Chevrolet SS at Michigan International Speedway ... Kevin Harvick will pilot chassis No. 425 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in the Pure Michigan 400. This Chevrolet was most recently driven to a 10th-place finish at Kentucky Speedway in June.
Harvick in the Irish Hills ... Since his first appearance at Michigan International Speedway in June of 2001, Harvick has made 25 starts at the two-mile, D-shaped oval. In those 25 starts, the California native has collected one win (August 2010), four top-five and nine top-10 finishes. Harvick holds an average starting position of 18.2 coupled with an average finishing position of 14.3, has completed 99.2 percent (4,860 of 4,901) of the laps contested and led 149 circuits.
Rheem on the Hood ... The red Rheem logo will adorn the hood of the No. 29 RCR machine this weekend at Michigan International Speedway for their sixth of seven appearances during the 2013 Sprint Cup Series season. Rheem will also be featured on Harvick's Chevrolet at Talladega Superspeedway in October.
Gotta Have a Rheem ... Rheem Manufacturing Company (www.rheem.com) is privately held with headquarters in Atlanta and U.S. operations in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Indiana, North Carolina and Texas. In its 88th year of operation, the company manufactures a full-line of eco-friendly, technologically advanced residential and commercial heating and cooling systems; tank, tankless, solar and hybrid heat pump water heaters; whole-home standby generators, controls, swimming pool and spa heaters; indoor air-purification products; and commercial boilers throughout North America and world markets. The company's premium brands, including Rheem, Raypak, Ruud and Richmond have been recognized with countless industry and consumer awards for reliability, innovative design and high quality. Rheem is the official heating, cooling and water heating supplier to Richard Childress Racing, and is a primary sponsor of RCR's No. 29 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and RCR's No. 33 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Race Rewind ... Starting from the 20th position, Harvick and the No. 29 team finished 16th at Michigan International Speedway after battling handling issues in the 2012 Pure Michigan 400.
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTES:
You finished second at Michigan International Speedway in June, are you eager to go back?
"This part of the schedule has been tough for us the last few years, between Indy (Indianapolis Motor Speedway), Pocono (Raceway) and Michigan (International Speedway). We didn't run that well last season at Indy, and ran ok at Pocono and Michigan. We've been trying to work on this portion of the schedule and make it better. We've been kind of hit and miss on these types of tracks."
Do you think some of the old character is coming back to Michigan International Speedway?
"The bottom groove was better the last time we raced there. It didn't move up like it used to, but you have that middle and bottom groove, especially between turns three and four. In turns one and two that bottom groove wasn't quite as good, so you were kind of locked into that one-single groove. It's hard to adjust from the type of racing that we used to have there compared to what you see now with the groove being so much narrower with the new asphalt. It's slowly coming back around, but I think it's going to take a while."